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Marriage and Fear
Jan. 25th, 2016 07:09 amHollywood is at it again.
I know long-running TV shows need a steady stream of conflict, and not just the mystery of the week or the villain of the month, but also character conflict. Problem is, the latter is always the SAME conflict.
A number of the shows I watch involve characters who dance around the idea of getting married. Oliver and Felicity in ARROW, Leonard and Penny in THE BIG BANG THEORY, Amy and Sheldon on the same show, and more. And in every single one of them, the producers draw out the storylines by having one or more characters be afraid of getting married.
Because, you know, that's how it works, right? Getting married is scary. Frightening. TERRIFYING. It's the scariest thing you'll ever do! Facing down a Tyrannosaurus Rex while handcuffed to a velociraptor is less frightening than marriage!
What the fuckity snacks is this?
So marriage is so awful and terrible it's something to be feared instead of desired?
Look, I can understand some nervousness. Marriage is a major life change, and that's stressful. But where, O Hollywood, are the couples who look FORWARD to getting married? Never, ever do we see them. It's always fear, Fear, FEAR.
Darwin and I had to FIGHT to get married. We had to fight for the right to do it. We had to fight through social approbation just to be a couple, and fight through more social approbation to be engaged. When the law finally gave us the right to get married, we threw a "fuck you, we're getting married in at a big wedding BECAUSE WE CAN--in your FACE" wedding, and we looked forward to every moment.
What is this scared of getting married bullshit? I have no patience for it.*
Hollywood is looking to draw everything out with fake-looking fear because their writers are so unimaginative, they can't think of any other conflict to bring to a relationship. After the twentieth time, I want to throw a brick at their heads.
*I'm distinguishing between fear of marriage and fear of a wedding, which plagues many couples who want to get married but are afraid they're spending too much on the wedding or who are nervous about getting up in front of a large group of people and saying, "I do."
I know long-running TV shows need a steady stream of conflict, and not just the mystery of the week or the villain of the month, but also character conflict. Problem is, the latter is always the SAME conflict.
A number of the shows I watch involve characters who dance around the idea of getting married. Oliver and Felicity in ARROW, Leonard and Penny in THE BIG BANG THEORY, Amy and Sheldon on the same show, and more. And in every single one of them, the producers draw out the storylines by having one or more characters be afraid of getting married.
Because, you know, that's how it works, right? Getting married is scary. Frightening. TERRIFYING. It's the scariest thing you'll ever do! Facing down a Tyrannosaurus Rex while handcuffed to a velociraptor is less frightening than marriage!
What the fuckity snacks is this?
So marriage is so awful and terrible it's something to be feared instead of desired?
Look, I can understand some nervousness. Marriage is a major life change, and that's stressful. But where, O Hollywood, are the couples who look FORWARD to getting married? Never, ever do we see them. It's always fear, Fear, FEAR.
Darwin and I had to FIGHT to get married. We had to fight for the right to do it. We had to fight through social approbation just to be a couple, and fight through more social approbation to be engaged. When the law finally gave us the right to get married, we threw a "fuck you, we're getting married in at a big wedding BECAUSE WE CAN--in your FACE" wedding, and we looked forward to every moment.
What is this scared of getting married bullshit? I have no patience for it.*
Hollywood is looking to draw everything out with fake-looking fear because their writers are so unimaginative, they can't think of any other conflict to bring to a relationship. After the twentieth time, I want to throw a brick at their heads.
*I'm distinguishing between fear of marriage and fear of a wedding, which plagues many couples who want to get married but are afraid they're spending too much on the wedding or who are nervous about getting up in front of a large group of people and saying, "I do."
